The US Coast Guard has confirmed that debris has been found during the ongoing search for the missing OceanGate submersible.
Five passengers are trapped inside the submersible. They are said to have paid around $250,000 to see the Titanic on Sunday (June 18). The passengers include British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood (along with his 19-year-old son, Suleman), French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and finally Stockton Rush - the CEO of OceanGate - which runs the sub.
The underwater vessel, known as Titan, was set to go on a 12,500-foot-deep expedition - operated by OceanGate - in the North Atlantic Ocean to explore the infamous wreckage.
However, just an hour and 45 minutes into the journey, the sub lost contact with its mothership, Polar Prince, and failed to provide a signal to a Canadian research vessel.
The US Coast Guard has now confirmed in a recent tweet: "A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information."
More information is set to be released at the next press briefing at 3PM (local time).
A medical team has arrived at the scene of the rescue site with medical equipment hours after the vessel's oxygen supply was said to have "run out".
Said medical equipment reportedly includes a hyperbaric recompression chamber that can hold as many as six people, according to the Daily Mail.
The team, which traveled on the Canadian Navy ship HMCS Glace Gay, arrived at the rescue site at 9AM - around two hours after 12:08PM GMT on Thursday, June 22, - the time when the 96-hour oxygen supply had supposedly run out.
According to officials from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax of the Canadian Armed Forces, the medics specialize in dive medicine.
"JRCC Halifax continues to assist MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) Boston in support of submarine search efforts," Lt. Cmdr. Len Hickey, senior public affairs officer, said in a statement
There are also three Canadian Coast Guard ships on the scene if required.
It has now been four days since the submersible was declared missing and the desperate search to find it has entered a critical stage after several reports suggested that the vital oxygen supply on board would deplete on Thursday, June 22 at 12:08PM GMT.
Our thoughts go out to everybody impacted by this story and those involved in rescue operations.
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